As I listened to the many Democratic Presidential candidates debate a week ago, I kept asking, "Why is Sharpton there?" He is quick with the tongue, glib with the lip, and instant to give a quip on any and all issues even though it is clear he speaks as a dilettantishly. But why is he there? Surely he is not in the campaign because he thinks he has any chance of winning, making a showing, or to raise any issue of national significance. The once-Rev. Al Sharpton, formerly a Holiness preacher, now a peddler of himself, is in this race for one reason: MONEY!

When I look at Mr. Sharpton, I see a man who has observed what Jessie Jackson did--go from a $50,000 a year job at Operation PUSH to a multimillionaire during and after his run for the presidency--and being a streetwise hustler and a quick study, Sharpton has used Jackson as his get rich model.

Some years ago, Sharpton put himself in the national spotlight with the failed case of Tawana Brawley and was sued for very vulgar claims he and she made against the New York Police and District Attorney's office. That brought him infamous recognition, but for Sharpton, seemingly any press is better than no press. The suit quieted him for a while, then he was back at vocalizing in streetwise style--going wherever he saw a potential issue that would give him press coverage. Sharpton knows that press coverage, be it ever so foul, can be transformed into money, ala Monica Lewinsky.

He seemingly studied the financial rise of Jessie Jackson, and built a model around and parallel to Jackson's. So from the pulpit to a presidential hopeful he has traveled, knowing that the road would be paved with gold. And with his loquacious commentary, vulgar though it is sometimes, he has attracted Cornell West to his side, diminishing the credibility of Dr. West, even while adding to Sharpton's in somebody's eyes.

When a person seriously listens to Sharpton, he seems drunk occasionally, and at other times he seems like the energizer bunny that keeps going on and on, but he says nothing, albeit he quips cutely. There is little more than a street hustler's bag of treats in his mouth. He has no plan, no program, not overall vision or view for the nation. There is a view and vision for himself, but not for this nation.

When he is contrasted to former Senator Mosely-Braun, anyone can see the difference. Even though some news commentators cast her as one of the beauty contestants--meaning they will not be seriously considered candidates by the majority public--she makes sense; a sense that Al Sharpton could never make; she is not crude, loud or vulgar.

Sharpton hits on the right progressive issues, but he can go no further; he is merely a street hustler and has no depth. His con is the same as any crooked preacher who sees money among his congregants and harnesses all the biblical eloquence at his disposal to ensure that a large portion of that money goes into his pockets. He is not even a beauty contestant in this race for President. He is a hustler picking up bread crumbs that naturally result from media coverage.

Already Sharpton gets fees to speak, it is his strategy to go to the venues with the largest fees, regardless of prior appointments. In Oakland, Sharpton had committed himself to speaking a year ahead of time, but the very day he was to be in Oakland at a youth conference, he was a no-show; he accepted a speaking engagement in Los Angeles that paid approximately three times his Oakland speaking fee.

This campaign for president is a major con game that will result in money for his; that is the only reason he is running. He has no program, no plan, no issue that is dear to him, no vision he has for this nation or the people of this nation. He has a plan for himself--get as much money as he can as long as he can.

The poor brother saw how Jessie Jackson became rich--$1 million for a book deal; large speaking fees ($20,000 per speech), a TV program and fees, and investments--and he throw his hand into the ring as any good con man would do when there is money to be had. While Jackson did, indeed, get rich running for the presidency, there is a difference: Jackson has something to say and has paid real Civil Rights dues to say it; Sharpton has too much to say, albeit superficial, and he has no Civil Rights dues paid up. What he does have is Tawana Brawley as an Albatross around his neck. And what he also has is a retro hairstyle that bespeaks the 1970's Black pimps.

Sharpton may come out of this race with money, but it won't be the multimillion dollars that Jackson came out with. It is hard to trust a man that dresses like he does and talks as fast and superficially as he does. And regardless of who he gets to write his book, it cannot say much because he has not done much or thought and read much.

In his quest for money, Al Sharpton does the Black community a disservice: he projects a false image of the best that the Black community has to offer to this nation. He is not the best nor near our best. He is an opportunist that sees a way to make a buck and takes it without regard for anyone but Al Sharpton. []

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